Picture Perfect
by Michiko Yokisama
Summary: Fuji reflects on how he has let that one word and the people who use that word define him. Genius. [OneShot]


Just something I thought of last night. Hope you enjoy it! 4.29.07

One Shot: Fuji reflects on how he has let that one word (and the people who use that word) define him. Genius.

Edited: 12.23.07

xoxoxoxoxo

Picture Perfect

He knew it seemed like a random hobby to most people. At a quick glance, photography had nothing to do with tennis.

Usually, they put it down to the fact that he was a genius. Geniuses were allowed a different set of rules and different expectations.

And, he supposed, in a way, they were right.

Photography was able to capture the smallest movements, the minuscule details of the moment.

You needed this sort of talent in tennis, to be able to judge your opponent in a split second.

And he could.

But more than just the movement of the body, somehow, he could tell (by the smallest twitch of the mouth, the furrowing of a brow), their thoughts, their feelings. Under his gaze, these people, their pictures, could be revealed, exposed. And he knew their fears, their personalities, their weaknesses, their strengths.

So if he was like a camera, capturing the lives of the people that he met, then what? Should he also be able to control their development?

If you exposed a picture to too much light, then it would be ruined. Too little, and it would remain a mysterious black. These choices were all in the hands of the developer, the judge, the viewer.

It was bad to take people at face value, but sometimes finding what they hid, revealing too much, was worse. Sometimes, ignorance was bliss- to believe in the best- to be kept in the darkness.

In the same way, he had to balance himself. Too much and too little both, would leave him on the outside. He was a genius, yes. And they expected it of him.

To act normal would be underachieving. That was the way that people worked. They wanted to believe what they saw. They came with preconceived notions, and wanted you to fulfill their expectations.

What they expected of him, as a genius, he gave them. They wanted to be scared, to believe that geniuses were of a different world- that they were mysterious creatures.

But the other choice: acting normal, being himself, without the need for false acts was just as bad. They would be shocked and uncomfortable, and he too, in all honestly, would probably feel overexposed.

But reveal the perfect amount, and let the people guess at his true nature - just a few hints here and there (in this way, Inui was a continuous source of amusement), so that they would be intrigued.

Let them keep coming back, attracted to the mystery, the bit they could almost see - just in the shadows - there and gone again.

But never too much so that they would find out his true nature, always, always keep them guessing. They accepted him as a genius, one who lived in his own world, so this was what they got.

Sometimes, he didn't even know himself. Yet here, in the dark room, he could relax.

It was mindless work, a pattern, that still somehow required concentration. The low, dim glow of the safe lights, the sloshing of the chemicals, and the steady rush of water. It was a driving monotony, but one that revealed, with every photo developed, a new picture.

A new person, a new face.

It was calm, relaxing. A place to be himself without having to live up to the expectations of everyone else. He could just _be. _

It was comfortable to know what was expected of you.

And if he had the power to fool them (because they wanted to be fooled) and the ability to _not_ fool them, and remove them from their comfort, then that too was power, if of a different kind.

So what if he reveled just a bit in this odd 'power' of his? So what if, even while they accepted him, they distanced themselves?

In the end, everyone was a picture. And in the dark room, without the push of other's expectations, without the need for perfection, Fuji Syuusuke could portray anything he wanted.

xoxoxoxoxo

Photography is one of my hobbies too, so I can relate. (And yes, there are many possibly cheesy puns scattered in there)R&R please!


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